Wilson Sets New Course Record in Chicago

Darren ‘Optimus Climb’ Wilson emerged from his hiatus last weekend to set a new course record at the AON Center in Chicago. The Australian star is in incredible form ahead of the 40th edition of the Empire State Building Run Up (1 February), where he hopes to repeat his 2016 victory.

The AON Center stair climb is a very competitive event in the USA race calendar, regularly drawing in the country’s best tower runners. The list of former winners is a who’s who of some of the sport’s greatest ever stair climbers: Sproule Love, Jesse Berg, Eric Leninger, Justin Stewart.

At the top of the AON Center pile is Australian Terry Purcell. A former ESBRU winner (1998), and victorious in multiple climbs throughout his long stair climbing career, Purcell’s record time of 9:26 was set in 2009 – the last of his five victories (from five starts) at the 80-floor building.

Wilson smashed the record by 25 seconds, setting a new time of 9:01 – a record we can almost guarantee will remain untouched for years.

Big D Climb in Dallas, Texas

The Bank of America Plaza in Dallas

Down in Dallas it was the 9th edition of the Big D Climb at the Bank of America Plaza (1,540 steps). Stair climbers descended from around the USA to vie for supremacy, and it was ‘The Molten Puma’ Thomas Scott from Florida who took the win in 9:11. Mark ‘Lord of the Incline’ Ewell from Colorado Springs wasn’t far behind in 9:23.

With the Cowboys having crashed out of the NFL playoffs a few weeks back, the locals were looking for some sporting Texan star to brighten their mood, and Scott ‘The Chalice of Thunder’ Stanley was good for the job. He made sure a Texan was standing on the podium, taking third in 10:05. Big shout out to one of our stair climbing heroes, Hal ‘The Statesman’ Carlson, who at 64 (!!!) took a massively impressive fourth place finish. Amazing longevity!

In the women’s division it was local athlete Anita ‘A for Aggression’ Averill who took the win (12:18). She was followed by another Texan, Jackie ‘The Stair Corroder’ Rust (12:44), with Madeleine ‘The Oakland Bad Ass’ Fontillas Ronk taking third (13:40). Our current stair crush, Sue ‘She’ll Amaze Ya’ Glaser, took fourth place (14:01).

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